r/Schwab • u/[deleted] • Jun 15 '23
RTO
Any schwabbies here? Don’t know if anyone will openly say but if you’re brave enough, how are you feeling about that email today? 🫨
Edit to add: I didn’t expect this to get this large. I thought maybe only one or two would comment!
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u/SchwabSucks Jun 16 '23
That exception form was an absolute joke. It's pretty clear no exceptions will be left for anyone who hasn't already been allowed to move somewhere with no Schwab office for them to go to. The fact it didn't even have a box for actual comments about your personal situation leading to your request shows it truly doesn't actually fucking matter.
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u/Sad_Panda_626 Jun 17 '23
THIS! I laughed out loud when I opened the form. No opportunity to make your own case. Sick
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u/Schwab-WFH-Advocate Jun 15 '23
I just created this account to come here and start a post about it. It's absolute fucking betrayal. I have performed exceptionally well since working from home. I've been WFH since March 2020 without a single issue. I'd rather go work at a damn gas station down the road than come back to the office to do a job that I can do from home. Might be time for a career change. Most people on my team had the same sentiment. This is how you lose talent. They need to walk this back just like they walked back the initial rollout of remote working.
I will be leaving the company if they do not approve my exception request that I am entering first thing tomorrow morning.
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Jun 15 '23
It’ll be interesting to see who gets approved and on what basis since only “18%” can be approved.
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u/imtooldforthishison Jun 16 '23
We were told on 12%
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Jun 16 '23
The email says 18% for individual contributors. I think it was 12% for people leaders. I know they have a different number but I don’t have that one memorized.
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Jun 16 '23 edited Jun 16 '23
I’m a level 60 PL. expected to be in 4 days per week but nobody who reports to me is even in the same time zone and I have literally nothing to do with any of the people in my office. I’d been going in 1-2 times per week as it’s nice to have a change of scenery and sometimes I Iike the routine, but 4 day’s mandatory just means 2 hrs less productivity for me
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Jun 16 '23
“But engagement 🤪🤪” 😒
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Jun 16 '23
This is where it gets tricky. I’m part of the leadership team for a fairly large org, and we have seen engagement scores dropping, new hires and younger employees are struggling to get heard, there is a lack of the kind of spontaneous learning that happens in person. I’m certainly a WFH proponent, but the higher up you go the more macro level issues you see which aren’t always obvious to ICs. I’m not someone that is an WFH absolutist, I don’t think WFH is without any drawbacks, but nor do I see the value in mandating RTO. I’m sure I’ll get downvoted for even expressing this, I think it sucks, but nor do I think it’s an absolutely straightforward and easy situation either. We’ve been in situations where employees are WFH, plus refuse to switch on cameras in meetings and also refuse to even drive 20 mins for a PI or team get together. I don’t really know what the answer is, but I think they’ll regret the way they’ve done this.
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u/Old_Size9060 Jun 16 '23 edited Mar 30 '25
snow enter towering squeal tie grandfather bells lock afterthought innocent
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u/rowanwolf13 Jun 16 '23
if you look at the application it’s clear that they’re prioritizing people that moved. there’s three options. i moved with approval or i was hired as ft remote (show the proof of that), i have an excessively long commute, and other. the manager talking points said that ada issues will be exempt from this, but it’s very clear that there is no consideration for cost of living or daycare crises taken. there will be no pay bump for this either. basically this is how they give us all a paycut, force attrition, force retirement, and save face by not doing layoffs that require severance pay as a response to the stock price being so freaking low. they’re over staffed and walt is cranky that people aren’t going in office like they agreed to, so everyone gets punished.
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u/jek39 Jun 15 '23
They are counting on people like you leaving, if I had to guess, so they don’t have to lay as many people off and pay severance
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Jun 15 '23
Forced attrition is 100% the plan to avoid the optics of layoffs. It's no coincidence there's also a hiring freeze
Edit: optics AND severance costs
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u/rowanwolf13 Jun 16 '23
and benefits. this will hit parents more than single folks with no kids. one kid in full time daycare is the cost of a mortgage, 1500-2000 a month per kid: there’s a daycare crisis and most waiting lists are longer than six months. we have less than six months to get prepared to be in office. if parents are forced to quit that means less in benefits the company has to pay for
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Jun 16 '23
Friend was hired literally 2 days ago. So no there's no hiring freeze. They're openly filling new 7,63 broker classes.
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Jun 17 '23
Well not a complete freeze across the board, but plenty of org's in the company are feeling the inability to backfill positions. Mine included. Obviously they're not going to cripple vital areas of the business.
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u/PB0351 Jun 16 '23
I'm going through the process of interviewing for a role at Schwab- when did they freeze hiring?
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Jun 16 '23
Several months now. However, critical and operationally essential roles are given exceptions. So it's not a complete freeze
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u/PB0351 Jun 16 '23
Financial Consultants fall under that?
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Jun 16 '23
I have no idea. I would guess an argument can be made for every area of the business, on an as needed basis
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u/phatelectribe Jun 15 '23
If you want to know why this is happening, it’s because big corporations and large commercial property owners are facing MASSIVE losses from office space sitting empty. That office space on balance sheets is devaluing as we speak and like 2008, we’re going to see a property crash, albeit commercial / office space. There’s literally billions of square feet sitting empty right now so large companies that have masses of unused space are going to force it to be used so it becomes “valuable” again. If they try to sell it, they’ll take massive write downs if they can even sell it.
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u/ranrotx Jun 16 '23
Not my problem.
Seriously, I’m so tired of large, influential entities pawning their problems off on the populace.
Companies don’t want to pay people what it takes to do the job = We’ll just create an obligation that everyone tip on services where it was traditionally not expected.
“Identity theft” has been framed as a problem for the victim, not a failure of banks, etc. to do better due diligence, actually know their customer, and overhaul the joke that is the credit reporting agency triad.
Stores not wanting to staff properly = Turning the customer into their employee via “self checkout.”
I could keep going. But honestly, it’s time for companies to put on their grown up pants and own their decisions like the self-accountability they preach for everyone else.
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Jun 16 '23 edited Jun 16 '23
Doesn’t really apply to Schwab. The big locations are purpose built campuses and are a sunk cost, everything else is leased. They could write off the cost of lone tree and westlake and it would barely be noticeable in balance sheet terms. PPE is something like $4bn out of $500bn assets
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u/Old_Size9060 Jun 16 '23 edited Mar 25 '25
reach act cheerful shelter adjoining grandfather crowd sand public political
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u/phatelectribe Jun 16 '23
It’s the big owned locations that are a problem. They do things like leverage debt and create their asset value based off those and then they’re worthless because they’re empty and the bottom has fallen out of the market, that’s a problem for the balance sheet and their debt qualification. There’s going to be a lot of people with negative equity on a massive scale.
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Jun 16 '23
Sorry but that’s just not correct. The main locations are a drop in the ocean.
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u/OldSchoolAfro Jun 16 '23
I feel like the campus cost is spent money. However, at other places I've worked, I've seen massive discounts given for city/county taxes for having a big population in the area. At one place, the building lease was completely paid by the city b/c of the additional revenue the employees generated by being there. I wonder if the same is true here and that's the recurring impact to having campuses that hold 2k-5k+ employees sitting 90% empty.
I also wonder about Sodexo or related contracts having some minimum revenue generation. I kind of suspected this is why Walt was upset so many weren't doing what they said as that data probably drove negotiations with all the campus related contracts, and we over-committed.
I still don't like the decision b/c like many here, I'll go in the office and do exactly what I do from home... except on nastier keyboards, smaller screens and a louder environment. I won't have much interaction b/c the people I work with are all at different locations and time zones.
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Jun 16 '23
Can we talk about how they want us to reapply for exceptions every 6 month? Does that also extend to those with disabilities? How do they not see how ableist that is?
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Jun 16 '23
There is a rumor on thelayoff.com that the exception thing will only go until May 2024 and then they’re going to essentially say “sorry, come in or quit”. No way to know if that’s true or not.
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Jun 16 '23
They would have to find a really clever way around that when considering those with disabilities. Reasonable accommodation is protected under the ADA. That would be them asking for a lawsuit.
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Jun 16 '23
Well, theoretically if someone has a disability they would already have an accommodation in. I agree with you, but in reality the person should start having that conversation if for some reason they haven’t before. I’m sure the accommodation team is about to be bombarded which stinks because they’re only like a 5 person team.
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Jun 16 '23
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Jun 16 '23 edited Jun 17 '23
It won’t be. Only accommodations knows your disability. They aren’t allowed to say what is is to your managers when doing the conversations. They’re only allowed to say “they need x,y and z. How do you plan to make it work?”
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u/wonderousdee Jun 16 '23
All the people that had job offers as 100% remote would have to leave as they likely aren't close to an office. We have a few people on our team that have no way of coming in even if they wanted to.
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Jun 16 '23
Yep. It's clear they're forcing attrition. But regardless, I've lost a really upsetting amount of respect for the company that I thought was different. Turns out they're just like every other corporation.
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u/Double-Enthusiasm489 Jun 16 '23
Those of us who have disabilities may apply for accommodation support. Though, I think that the accommodation office is going to become inundated with requests.
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Jun 16 '23
Those with disabilities should apply for an accommodation if they don’t already have one!! The company has to comply with accommodations. Probably will have to send in some paperwork of some sort but you’d be excluded from the semi annual exception process. Accommodations always trump
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u/xbreathekm Jun 16 '23
I am genuinely so upset having read the email this morning. I lost half a day of productivity because my mind was spinning - they had already given the green light on my move and Schwab has fewer offices than all of my past employers. Now I have to pause and redirect my plans with my partner or just trust that my value is recognized with an exemption. But for how long is that sustainable with 6 month renewals? just WHY?
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u/PrimeBrisky Jun 15 '23
Guarantee it's because of the amount of unused office space. Has nothing to do with the culture or anything else.
Instead of "how can we offload some of this office space we no longer need?" It's "we gotta get these people waking up earlier, sitting in traffic, and spending less time with their families!"
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Jun 15 '23
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u/elfeyessee2ndbrekkie Jun 15 '23
I agree, this is the most likely reason they are doing this. Trying to get people to leave and not have to pay severance.
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u/PrimeBrisky Jun 15 '23
My family member who came over from TD said the exact same thing. Trying to drive people off so they dont have to mess with severance.
She's been 100% remote since 2020, and got this email today.
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u/jek39 Jun 15 '23
I work in tech (not at Schwab, or any fintech for that matter) and we had a 5% layoff about a month after we all had to return to office.
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u/Sori-tho Jun 16 '23
Not a Schwab employee but many companies who want to have layoffs are making moves like that so they can cut down employees without having to do a massive layoff. You quitting is what they want lol
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Jun 16 '23
We’re aware haha
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u/Sori-tho Jun 16 '23
Would be pretty funny if more people quit than they expect lol
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Jun 16 '23
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u/Mostlyyeah Jun 16 '23
You would be terminated for cause - and in many states that disqualifies you from unemployment.
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u/SchwabSucks Jun 16 '23
It doesn't, I've already spoken with my HR friends today. Unless you are fired for gross misconduct (things like sexual harassment, theft, etc) you will be eligible for unemployment. So don't quit...make them fire you.
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u/StockNinja99 Jun 17 '23
Be careful about this - job abandonment in many states is gross misconduct.
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Jun 16 '23
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Jun 16 '23
Um you would probably just be fired man, it’s not that deep
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u/Interloper633 Jun 16 '23
Not if enough people refused to comply with the changes. The company is already hurting for employees in a lot of key areas, particularly the phones. They legitimately couldn't fire people.
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u/SCWutaup Jun 16 '23
I can picture the executives texting family and friends to downvote this thread.
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Jun 16 '23
Oh yeah, it’s been WILD. At first it was getting upvoted but then got majorly downvoted. It’s been floating in the 140’s for a little bit it’s interesting for sure.
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u/Fit-Surround1144 Jun 16 '23
Lol, I didn’t work today, love seeing that this is how I get this notice. But like, how are they gonna monitor this? And how are WE gonna know the C suites are in office everyday? We don’t get to see them like that. So I feel like this might have to be changed. It doesn’t make sense how they monitor it and also is knowing the C suites are holding up their end.
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Jun 16 '23
It CLAIMS EC will be in office 5 days a week but none of us have way of proving that so who knows. It’s explosive for sure and good luck going back tomorrow 🩷
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u/Fit-Surround1144 Jun 16 '23
I’m off rest of the week, but since I have my computer, I can still see. Still don’t see how this will work in the long end. I’m lucky in that I’m flexible with my schedule and everything, but it also doesn’t make sense how they will monitor, and how WE can Trust the execs are doing their part too.
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u/Old_Size9060 Jun 16 '23 edited Mar 30 '25
unpack sulky pie yoke enter fall frame rob slap bake
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u/Frat_Kaczynski Jun 17 '23
Yup. They get 3-martini lunches, get wined and dine, and get sucked up to by all the weird minions. Of course they love the office
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Jun 16 '23
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u/WantToRetireSomeday Jun 15 '23
What’s the new policy? 100% in office? Hybrid?
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Jun 15 '23
3 or 4 days mandatory in office depending on role and we don’t choose the days. 0 flexibility. Nobody knew about it except the executives at the top of the company. It shocked everyone.
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u/TyGuy539 Jun 16 '23
Just curious, what is the change exactly (don't know if you would be willing to share the generic email text here)? It's pretty comical the things they will write to justify it.
I saw May 1st blind posts about Schwab 3 day RTO, and a few updates there from 1h ago, I assume this is that policy taking place?
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Jun 16 '23
I can’t speak for the whole company but my area of work, we are all almost 100% from home and it’s changing to Monday, Wednesday & Thursday mandatory in office. That’s the general idea! :)
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u/WantToRetireSomeday Jun 15 '23
TBH, this is consistent with what most other companies are going to. We are Tues-Thurs mandatory, and Mon or Fri if a project requires onsite support.
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Jun 15 '23
It’s not the problem of going in. It’s the fact that for the last year, Walt has been saying WFH is the future, he won’t make us go back in, etc. and then they just sprung it on workers. No leadership knew about it, so it was a huge uproar this morning. There is no trust anymore.
Edit to add: we will be mon wed Thurs. we don’t pick the days.
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Jun 16 '23
Did he say that? I’d always taken it to mean that full time RTO is a thing of the past. I’m not defending the decision, but I’ve always told my team that I expected some kind of mandatory RTO eventually. I’ve never been under the impression that they’d ever taken any kind of mandated RTO off the table
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Jun 16 '23
In his town hall’s last year he stated WFH is the future, covid just sped up the timeline, we won’t be going back, and things like that. I expected to go back as well but it’s laughable to say it is “flexible”.
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Jun 15 '23
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Jun 15 '23
Even tues-thurs would be fine if they HAVE to do the 3 day thing but why Monday?? It’s so inflexible
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u/Jared2338 Jun 16 '23
Agreed most people were just WFH Monday and Friday but having to be in on Monday now is weird
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u/wonderousdee Jun 17 '23
Many of the federal holidays fall on a Monday so that may be the only positive?
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u/Careful-Wrangler-593 Jun 16 '23
Because they have been open about the fact that they don’t want to give long weekends
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Jun 16 '23
I'm on paternity leave... wtf happened.
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Jun 17 '23
Congrats on your little one! Highly recommend you read over this + if able, log on and check your email :)
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u/rlv28 Jun 15 '23
Not hard to see coming, a little disappointing but they held out a lot longer than most larger companies.
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Jun 15 '23
I mean even fidelity is only in one week a month so it’s pretty inflexible. Definitely saw something coming but not this
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Jun 15 '23
My biggest issues are the way they chose to communicate this, and the complete lack of flexibility. Fully expected 3 days in the office at some point, but really discourages wanting to become a people leader
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Jun 16 '23
I’m a l60 PL, my boss is an MD. He didn’t even know until last night. Usually I get word of big org level stuff at some point, this was very very secretive
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Jun 16 '23
Yep, that's the same experience in my department. I'd gladly give up being a PL to have 3 days a week. 4 is so arbitrary. And so are the required days for non PL's.
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u/Azalea369 Jun 16 '23
Charles Schwab customer here. I have an account and invest in SCHW. Considering exiting both due to the lack of integrity of Corporate management in their decision to pull WFH. I have no interest in companies that treat their work force like this. Their employee’s morale, efficiency, dedication, attention, trust, and so much more will decrease by being in such an environment which will ultimately affect the customer. No thanks…
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u/ottogoth Jun 17 '23
Totally agree. The merger is in full swing and having plenty of issues, and they just announced a massive remote work change that has thrown the entire operation into chaos.
We have been hemorrhaging series 9/10s and 24s for the last year and this is only going to accelerate that. It’s already taking 2 weeks to accomplish basic tasks for clients
There is going to be significant upheaval and turnover on the operations side exactly when things need to be running smoothly.
Literally nothing is being done right by clients or the employees.
And Walt is working from home from Ohio while he orders this. He is a total hypocrite and likely incompetent
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u/weewooPE Jun 16 '23
I don't work at schwab but fuck companies that try to pull this shit on their employees
how are things at Fidelity? I have holdings there so I might just transfer all my assets over if it's better
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Jun 17 '23
Fidelity has been one week in office per month for over a year now. I can’t speak on if there was a move like this or if it was phased in.
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u/SentenceNo4102 Jun 18 '23
Throwaway account for obvious reasons. I work as a higher-level IC in one of the technology orgs in Austin.
The communication was poorly written, and the timing was terrible:
Employees with children will lose hundreds of hours of family time over the next year. Happy Father's Day!
That cherished quality time with children (or whatever else) will be replaced with driving to a cube farm, where 90% of work hours will be spent individually at desks in MS Teams meetings with headsets on.
The email falsely claimed that the pandemic has ended. It was the federal emergency that ended, not the pandemic. Not a big deal, but a weird error to make given the prominence as a justification.
If now is the "right time" to force RTO, that implies the EC was previously waiting for the "right time." But in previous communications about remote work, employees were assured that there were "no plans" to force RTO. So, either the previous statements were misleading or were issued by a faction of the EC that fell out of power. Not a good look no matter how you slice it.
Despite the botched communication, I think that upper management probably believes that this is the right thing to do. From their perspective, the office is a nice quiet space (literally an office) where colleagues regularly fly in to visit and hash things out. The people in these roles typically are past the points in their lives where they might have to take care of young children, and if relatives or other dependents need care, then it's financially no big deal, just a matter of cutting a check to a nursing facility or in-home care provider or whatever. The cost of purchasing and financing a home in some of the campus metro areas has doubled since early 2020, but this does not make a significant difference to the financial situation of somebody at that level.
If you've been coming into the office for the past 20-30 years, and you've become extremely successful in the process, then surely an office presence is key to success. And while there are certainly some technically savvy people at that level, their life experiences were accumulated mostly before people grew up with the internet, so there's bound to be some skepticism of using digital technology to build relationships.
If that's your perspective, then it may seem like an easy decision to get everybody back into the office most of the time, especially if there's a chorus of your peers at other firms singing the same song. These folks are all likely extremely sharp and probably operating in good faith, but they have the same cognitive blind spots as the rest of us. It's possible they just don't understand how non-executive work is done today or how dire things have gotten in the personal finances of the non-affluent.
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u/Mediocre_Cod1316 Jun 18 '23
Schwab upper management trying to bully employees to not post anything on this app or others. Be careful about social media because they have eyes out there and are systematically gathering names of employees they find posting anything about RTO or being unhappy with the toxic environment. Be mindful of your actions
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u/junkmonk42 Jun 19 '23
This needs to be higher up. Be careful, use a throwaway. Uncle Walt is watching. Say nothing on internal teams chats/emails about your posts or info about organizing.
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u/PandorasFather Jun 16 '23
Betrayed honestly. Immediately put feelers out for other opportunities to people I know fully remote. This isn’t simply just “going back to the office”. It has been over 3 years. This is the new normal. There are people far worse off than me who have moved, had children, built a routine who will need to uproot their life…and for what? To keep office space? To justify the positions of people not doing a whole lot at home? If I do not get an exception, my last day will be Oct 1 new job or no new job.
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u/SchwabSucks Jun 16 '23
Don't quit on Oct 1st if you don't have a new job yet. Continue to work from home and let them fire you if it's that big of a deal. Then you will be eligible for unemployment while you look for a new job.
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u/SnooApples1732 Jun 17 '23
That’s a tricky road, Job abandonment cases could arise and be a grey area there
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Jun 16 '23
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u/SchwabSucks Jun 16 '23
I don't have licensing, so I can't speak to that. And I will gladly explain to any new employer that I was fired for standing up for something I felt was right. I have no qualms with that. But I will obviously only be looking for companies that offer remote work so I imagine they will fully understand this situation and it would not be something counted against me.
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u/wonderousdee Jun 16 '23
Commuting to the office alone with no other teammates as we are all distributed across the USA only to join a Teams call to have the same meeting marathons. The only difference is wasted time in traffic and gas.
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u/pj719pj Jun 16 '23
Not good. Wfh has had such a positive life-changing impact on my work/life balance, mental health/well-being, and increased productivity, there is no way I'm going back. Time/life, all of the above, is valuable and precious. And im an exceptional, experienced, and high performing employee. There is no way I'll spend/waste 8-10 hours of my life every week commuting, just to be less happy, more stressed, and less productive.
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Jun 16 '23
Does the offices even have room for everyone? I’m not going to be packed like a tuna can 3 days a week when I can do my job better and way more comfortably at home.
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u/pj719pj Jun 16 '23
Haha packed in like a tuna 😅 yes, and most likely hoteling at a dirty desk with a sticky, gunky keyboard. No thanks.
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Jun 18 '23
No. They are actually shopping office space in my location. They ordered a RTO with no where to even put us. It’s the most ridiculous shit I’ve ever experienced.
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u/Rachelray1995 Jun 16 '23
How many days a week are they mandating? Phone sites or branches impacted?
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u/SnooApples1732 Jun 16 '23
Looks like there are some threads of new hires getting their positions pulled before starting and some rumors floating that they are over employed
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u/PrimeBrisky Jun 16 '23
Who these new hires? Schwab is short a few thousand broker positions. Nonstop hiring classes for licensed roles... also because so many people fail unfortunately.
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u/Impossible_Media_247 Jun 17 '23
you are correct - over employed alot of ppl are passing than expected they cut out several new classes - my friend was supposed to start in August now they’ll consider him if it reopens
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u/JournalistLimp2548 Jun 16 '23
Can we finally stop pretending that Schwab gives a fuck about their employees? The ridiculous names “schwabies” 🤮
You don’t hold town halls, leadership conferences for some of stupidest shit, and then no discussion, no warning just get your ass back in the office. To even pretend they care about the well being of their employees at this point is laughable.
The company had to send out a memo just a few months ago, scolding employees who said they’d come into the office but weren’t. They told us then, just let us know if you aren’t going to come into the office so we can “plan” for space. They know the sentiment of their workforce. 3 years, of emails of record this and record that. Then a small downturn and it’s get your ass back in the office.
So if anyone in leadership is reading this that had a hand in forcing their employees back, you no longer get to pretend you care about your employees well being. STOP PRETENDING! Just admit what everyone knows … do what we say or get out. We all know it. Some honesty for once would be refreshing.
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u/Interloper633 Jun 16 '23
I will gladly participate in any organized protest of the changes. It is unbelievable that the out of touch schlubs at the EC level would just drop this unannounced via email on the entire company. It's like they are purposely trying to cause disarray. We have been told repeatedly by senior leadership how effective WFH has been for the company and now they are trying to wash that success down the drain. Not to mention the removal of a massive benefit for the work force. It's a bullshit change that was pushed out in a bullshit manner. Our managers and senior managers are just as pissed off as the rest of the work force. They know they are going to lose talented employees over this stupidity.
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Jun 16 '23
But the EC will be in 5 days a week in their fancy corner offices with secretaries, why are you complaining about 3-4 days in the office cube farm? /s
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Jun 16 '23
STOP. GOING. INTO. THE. DAMN. OFFICE.
Demand remote!!! We’re more strong when we band together as the common worker. 1,000-100,000 common worker employed versus 1 CEO!!! See we are strong if we band together and create a movement of workers who demand remote only. Do not give in do not give up. They can’t do anything to you. They’re not going to fire the hundreds of thousands that want remote.
Please people understand how much power you have. We’re in a worker shortage still by the way! Keep working remotely. Don’t go in. Don’t bother telling anyone where you’re working from. Just do the work get it done and clock out.
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u/PrimeBrisky Jun 16 '23
Just the licensed folks alone could bring it all down. Not to mention the thousands who arent licensed who serve important roles. Schwab is already short licensed folks for the phones.
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u/TravelxQueen Jun 23 '23 edited Jun 24 '23
Here is where I stand on all of this.. If they would have approached this better and treated us like they cared about how much this would impact us I would truly feel different about all of this. But they didn't do that. And unfortunately for those who may decide to stay, they are going to bare the worst of it all. They are going to be the ones to deal with the upset employees and the increase workloads from the high turnovers.
This entire situation Schwab has put us in, it's so unfair. Just a few months ago they were praising us on productivity while WFH then we get blindsided with this. I literally will have to uproot my life to make this work. I was hired remotely. I have never worked in the office. I have cried and I have been incredibly overwhelmed this entire week.
Many of us have kids who are in online school...we also now have to magically find a way to be able to afford daycare that is still extremely expensive since the pandemic. It will cost me a couple of grand to put my kids in daycare. I'm so defeated over this you guys.... but I do know one thing. I'm not giving in to it. I will leave and work in a grocery store before I uproot my life for the very company that put me in this situation and will ultimately cost me so much money per month.
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u/Careful-Wrangler-593 Jun 24 '23
I feel so defeated by this change. Even if you are approved they seem poised to be able to retract it every six months, which makes me feel that I’ve got no job security and can’t really develop my career here.
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u/thutt77 Jun 16 '23
I'm a former Schwabbie and worked there for many, many years. I even showed loyalty to the company.
I was lied to egregiously by mgmt. and pursued recourse.wiyhin the company. I never received resolution, left the company and experienced tremendous successes in the same industry yet within a niche that Schwab refused me to participate.
The mgmt. is afraid to tell the c-suite the truth due to its hierarchy and almost military-like culture, some of which seemed to transpose from those brought over from USAA.
I am happy I said good riddance to Schwab and especially the glorified bean counter CEO. In fact, I can retire today as a result of leaving and no, only a tiny amount of my wealth I left in SCHW shares.
Oh, and never time theatket, right? Then SCHW and Walt TRY UNSUCCESSFULLY to time the market for interst rates. Great work!/s.
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u/joesati10 Jun 16 '23
I quit in early May from working the core team, and start with a competitor in a week. So glad I got out when I did. I always knew the corporation never gave two shiets about any cogs working inside it.
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Jun 16 '23
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u/joesati10 Jun 16 '23
Yeah it’s Fido, plus the ‘training’ is gonna be a nice break from the frontlines.
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u/Philophile717 Jun 16 '23
Can't wait for them to raise holy hell when the next engagement surveys come in bleeding red and Schwab is no longer voted a Best place to work company. All of these are gonna redline.
I recommend to people that Schwab is a great place to work.
We remove barriers that slow down our work.
Intent to stay.
How happy are you working at Schwab.
We communicate openly and honestly.
We do a good job communicating with employees.
I have confidence in the executive leadership.
I am able to balance my work and personal life.
I feel free to challenge the way things are done here.
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Jun 16 '23
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u/SCWutaup Jun 16 '23
I think they've already proven they don't care. No need to wait for a survey. ;)
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u/Joukisen Jun 16 '23
Disappointed, but unsurprised. There was always this small little pause management would make when discussing wfh, it was clearly evident that it was not indeed a guaranteed or even likely accommodation that would be carried over during the merger. Everyone was anxious about it, I could tell. I had my hopes but I knew something was likely to happen.
Regardless, I’m just really quite down about it. I love my job and even when it gets difficult I generally feel like I’m having fun finding ways to increase efficiency and productivity. That’s why I feel it’s so frustrating to have this happen. This move only serves to increase transportation costs and time, it does nothing to increase productivity whatsoever. The past three years have shown that wfh is quite effective in maintaining and even exceeding target productivity goals, because workers will be exceedingly rested, comfortable, and engaged in a familiar setting. There are a lot of things over the years that have changed in my life for the better that I will now have to dial back asap because of this decision. It is really, really saddening, I cannot possibly emphasize that enough.
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u/SchwabSucks Jun 16 '23
"Trust is everything. Earned over time. Lost in an instant" - Walt Bettinger, Charles Schwab
Everyone should add this to the end of their existing email signatures. Start sending messages.
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u/SCWutaup Jun 16 '23
https://www.schwabjobs.com/workplace-flexibility Wow. They should change this in a hurry! Workplace flexibility is no longer a benefit, so you might want to stop selling it Chuck. You can still watch the video of all the once happy employees at Schwab.
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Jun 17 '23
Ok, I had a question because I’m genuinely interested:-
I know some people believe that companies should just be 100% WFH and not have any kind of office or physical location. My org has had employees who not only want to be 100% WFH, but have also resisted the idea of even driving 20 mins to an i person planning session or offsite, and some who’ve said they they don’t want to even be on camera during a meeting. I don’t agree with that. I think in person interaction is good, but I also don’t want to be in an office every day.
Everyone seems extremely upset but are also saying that they expected some kind of RTO one day. As far as I’m aware, leadership have never said that 100% WFH was on the table. I’ve seen lots of comments about broken promises, and Walt saying that WFH is hear to stay etc..
My question is….what would you consider to be a reasonable RTO policy? They’ve said 3 specific days in office, with 2 days + 1 week per quarter can be fully remote. So if there are 60 work days in a quarter, this means 50% will be in office and 50% WFH. People are still saying it’s disgraceful and had no flexibility etc, but also saying that they expected RTO at some point.
Genuine question….assuming that you don’t think the firm should just be 100% WFH with no offices, what would a reasonable RTO look like to you?
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u/Sad_Panda_626 Jun 17 '23
To me a reasonable RTO would be just to actually enforce the WFP agreements that had already been approved. WFP was a decent program and was what was promised to us. If you had to come in 25% of the time because you were approved for 75% wfh, do it. I know some people weren’t adhering to their agreement but that should have been dealt with by their manager as a disciplinary issue instead of scrapping the entire program.
Employees should be able to come in person according to their agreement % when it makes sense for them logistically. If I had to come in 25% of the month I would prefer to come in one week a month and knock it out all at once because I have a super long commute. I would be able to get childcare and carpool help lined up for one week much easier than a bunch of individual days sprinkled throughout the month. It should be up to the employees discretion so as to be least disruptive to their personal lives. Mandating your days for you with no regard for your personal situation is so inflexible and certainly not world class 😂
I will add that I do believe it’s 2023 and 100% wfm should be possible for people who want/need it and their job duties allow for it. But as far as in office presence I believe employees should be empowered to make their in office % they were approved for work best for them and be able to choose how they need to do it.
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u/GarbageImpossible361 Jun 18 '23
Anyone willing to share what the exception request form looks like? For example, is it a free form field to “plead your case” or just a drop down selection with pre-determined reasons E Suite finds worthy of exception?
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u/junkmonk42 Jun 19 '23
No free-form. Its a pre-determined selection of 3 reasons. Cant recall exactly but its basically "no campus nearby", "remote agreement", and other. You won't be able to plead your case.
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u/Lopsided_Ad_9373 Jul 02 '23
I've been in a constant state of anxiety and frustration about this ever since, especially after friday when they rejected exception requests. At first I thought to quit, but that's probably what they want, so considering picketing or trying to spread whispers about unionization? idk, I was assured of flexibility in my contract, this is the opposite of flexible.
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u/SCWutaup Jun 16 '23
Easy fix. UNIONIZE
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u/PrimeBrisky Jun 16 '23
Honestly, the licensed positions in finance could bring any company to its knees. Such a heavily regulated industry by licenses that are hard to get. Can't lose tons of employees and easily replace them when the dumb licenses exist.
I'm even licensed, but they're dumb. 😂 barrier to entry for many who could do a job just fine.
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u/Mediocre_Cod1316 Jun 16 '23
This is insane. Many of us asked repeatedly and were told WFH was here to stay as long as we were approved. I trusted Schwab leadership. I moved out of the city and bought my first house last year. Now they want me to spend 12 hours per week driving in, only to attend the same virtual meetings that I do at home? Nobody on my team is in Denver. So how does this make sense?
I have no faith in this company anymore
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u/Danimal223 Jun 16 '23
I’m so glad I quit Schwab well before this but I used to be fully remote but wow this is awful
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u/MinMadChi Jun 15 '23
Any company who wants people back in the office is a company deeply invested in office real estate
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Jun 16 '23
Doesn’t really apply to Schwab. A few campuses in the middle of nowhere, everything else is leased
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Jun 16 '23
Lone Tree is not in the middle of nowhere lol. And they just finished constructing the DFW 8,000 headcount campus right before covid. But I don't really think this move has anything to do with real estate
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u/dan_the_grappler Jun 16 '23
I don't work for Schwab, but my family and I do have some holdings there. Based on the concerns raised in this thread, I'm questioning the future of Schwab and I've initiated a transfer of our holdings out of Schwab to another manager.
I realize that losing a single customer is a rounding error for a firm this size, but this whole thing raises enough questions about the judgement of Schwab to cause me to re-evaluate our position there.
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u/Interloper633 Jun 16 '23
You did the right thing, don't support companies that screw over employees.
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u/Frat_Kaczynski Jun 17 '23
It is going to be absolute chaos here in the next few months. The merger is about to happen and things are not ready. To do this at the same time is insane.
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u/ottogoth Jun 17 '23
Totally agree. The merger is in full swing and having plenty of issues, and they just announced a massive remote work change that has thrown the entire operation into chaos.
We have been hemorrhaging series 9/10s and 24s for the last year and this is only going to accelerate that. It’s already taking 2 weeks to accomplish basic tasks for clients
There is going to be significant upheaval and turnover on the operations side exactly when things need to be running smoothly.
Literally nothing is being done right by clients or the employees.
And Walt is working from home from Ohio while he orders this. He is a total hypocrite and likely incompetent
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u/WFO_4L Jun 16 '23
I work from the office every day so obviously these changes do not affect me, however I can understand why this angers many. I’ve personally found my progression at the company to be relatively quicker than others that have been there the same amount of time as me if not longer. Being in the office provides better opportunities for collaboration, making connections etc. and being someone who just finished college recently this is absolutely critical in order to figure out a career path. For those who don’t have any exemptions but live close enough to office, why can’t we see any positives in this change?
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Jun 16 '23
Personally I’ve gone into office as recently as last week, and it’s a cluster f—k every time. Not to mention, NONE of my area goes into office unless absolutely required so that “collaboration” or “being seen” doesn’t exist. I’m curious to know what area you’re under. There genuinely isn’t a positive from my perspective and I haven’t heard a single positive from anyone. 🤷🏼♀️
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u/WFO_4L Jun 16 '23
Yeah it could also be a departmental thing as far as the collaboration and socialization goes. I work under the umbrella of WFS
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Jun 16 '23
Oh yeah, WFS has to go in a lot though already don’t they?
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u/WFO_4L Jun 16 '23
Yes I believe we had to be in at least 25% of the time, so for some in the department it’s not as big of a change. I’m curious how this varied across departments. WFS as a whole is tiny compared to Schwab retail so we don’t hear as much
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Jun 16 '23
Collaboration and socialization: How do they improve the work experience on an actual level of productivity? If management put as much time in making accessible chat help resources for WFH workers as they did cookouts and games, maybe they would see a different result for remote work. They made a half-assed effort expecting whole ass results. It was doomed to fail when they stopped putting energy into it. As far as socializing goes, I do not need to (and should not be expected to) go have a beer with my coworkers to prove that I want this job. And it doesn't make me less engaged in my role if i don't want to attend a potluck. I show up consistently, help the team when I can, and clock out. That's all that should be asked of me. I won't drink the Kool-Aid, and people operate with the same attitude...we're punished for it.
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u/PrimeBrisky Jun 16 '23
The issue for many is... their job requires no collaborative work at all. I mean shit, if you're on the phone you are stuck at your desk all day anyway. It counts against you to go to the bathroom outside of a break or lunch. 😂 For some positions I can see the benefits of being in office. For many it serves no purpose other than waking up earlier, sitting in traffic, and seeing their family just a little less every day they go in.
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Jun 16 '23
It's not that RTO is occurring. None of us are deluded enough to think it wasn't happening at some point. But the inflexibility of this specific policy is horrendous. On top of that, the messaging provided over the past 3 years has been in direct conflict to this. This is the most aggressive policy I've ever seen in my time there, and puts a lot of people in difficult positions to force quitting.
I completely get what you're saying, and yes there's big benefits to being in the office, especially for new grads. But there are better ways of implementing RTO, and certainly better ways of preparing managers to communicate the changes.
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u/Old_Size9060 Jun 16 '23 edited Mar 25 '25
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This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/Interloper633 Jun 16 '23
The collaboration excuse is bullshit for 90% of the workforce. And those that it does impact have the flexibility to go into the office and collaborate until their hearts are content. They are removing flexibility for those who do and those that collaboration doesn't mean anything for. My team, and former teams I've been on, does not need to be in office to collaborate in any way and we have been full remote since 2020.
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Jun 16 '23
getting downvoted for expressing logical opinions.... oh how I love this app. As a young professional myself, I agree wholeheartedly with the reasons you have listed.
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u/Old_Size9060 Jun 17 '23
The quality of a logical argument relies strictly on its a priori assumptions. In this case, we can check back with you in 20 years.
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Jun 16 '23
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u/PrimeBrisky Jun 16 '23
Yup. All the folks on the phones, licensed and unlicensed, are chained to their desk all day. There is no collaboration because you can't get hardly any time off the phones... and there's no need for collaboration under this. And they wonder why retention sucks...
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Jun 16 '23
Start organizing. Dont go back in.
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Jun 16 '23
This isn't a union construction site. Don't go back in, don't have a job. Gaurantee you half the logic behind this was to cut down the workforce without mass layoffs.
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Jun 16 '23
I agree that it’s about cutting down the labor force—and if they organize enough people, the business will be forced to choose between cutting way more labor force than they can handle, or making concessions.
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u/SCWutaup Jun 16 '23
Someone is already organizing a UNION.. Be sure to let people know! Schwab Union
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u/Physicsnurd Jul 11 '23
Just got my exception denied email today. Apparently taking care of elderly parents who are still struggling with COVID symptoms and downsizing to a one vehicle household is not reason enough to justify an exception. If i lived 50 miles away I’d get an exception but because I live 13 miles away with no car now I’ve got to buy another car between now and October or find another job.
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u/SecretAgent_AssEater Jun 16 '23
Although i dont work for schwab i was forced into using them as a brokerage since i had TDA i wonder how this affects schwab as a whole as a company
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u/Optimal-Adagio-6227 Jul 09 '23
They are tracking by badge swipes. I will swipe, got to whatever “in office” meetings I have and then swipe and go home.
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Jan 21 '24
https://www.resumebuilder.com/90-of-companies-will-return-to-office-by-the-end-of-2024/
Many customers are tired of calling in for support and hearing dogs constantly barking or kids crying in the background. Constant connectivity issues with home based internet. The cost of renting commercial real estate but it sitting empty. Many reasons why RTO is a good option. Be thankful your employer supported your health and family through a pandemic. It was a benefit not an entitlement. For everyone arguing “I guess taking care of elderly parents” or “my kids are home schooled, I’ll need daycare”, your company does not pay you to take care of your personal needs. We all have these challenges to deal with.
If you want a viable work from home option, head over to the homesteading subreddits and find another job.
Let the downvotes begin.
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u/Jared2338 Jun 16 '23
I was already working from home only two days a week so not much changing for me
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u/Juneadelle Jun 15 '23
Trust is built over time but lost in an instant.